1990s These Jeff Spicoli-esque characters in this 1997 Carl's Jr. commercial share how they invented the lava lamp while high on life Popkin

History The entire 34,000-year DUNE timeline explained in one 10-minute video Thom Dunn

books The second book in Tim Powers' 'Vickery and Castine' series is even better than the first Jason Weisberger

alternate history This video imagines Dropbox in the 1980s Mark Frauenfelder

happy mutants Hannu Rajaniemi's Summerland: a midcentury spy thriller, with the afterlife Cory Doctorow

alternate history What if Steam had been around in 1988? Mark Frauenfelder

alternate history Making a better World War II Gregory Benford

Business "Artisanal" Nintendo console cartridge hacker creates impossible alternate history games Cory Doctorow

happy mutants Judenstaat: an alternate history in which a Jewish state is created in east Germany in 1948 Cory Doctorow

happy mutants Coming in November: Pirate Utopia, a novella by Bruce Sterling with an intro by Warren Ellis Cory Doctorow

Oklahoma Oklahoma Dept. of Education partners with vile PragerU Kids Jason Weisberger

science fiction Check out the first trailer for the new Babylon 5 movie Thom Dunn

books Republicans no longer seeking to ban individual books go after the whole library Jason Weisberger

Dead Whale Baseball team rebrands to honor Oregon's famed Exploding Whale Jason Weisberger

happy mutants 20th Century Men brilliantly flips the Cold War on its head, with superheroes Thom Dunn

History What is inside an apartment in Paris abandoned for 70 years? Elías Villoro

books A People's Guide to Los Angeles, 10 years later Elías Villoro

kickstarter The Tarot of Austin Osman Spare Ferdinando Buscema